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RamayanaRamayana, in Sanskrit means march or journey. It is part of the Hindu smriti written by Valmiki. The smriti is secondary in authority to the shruti. The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses spanning seven books. It is believed to be written between the 4th and 2nd century B.C. The first book is called The Book of Youth; it is mostly about Ram. He is the oldest son in the kingdom born to King Dasarath and Queen Kausalya. Both Ram and Lakshman (one of the twin born to Queen Kaikeyi) are sent to live with sage Vishwamitra in order to help him keep away demons during his sacrifice rituals. During his final days with Vishwamitra Rama was invited to King Janaka’s kingdom where numerous princes were fighting for Sita’s hand in marriage, the incarnation of goddess Lakshmi. Rama succeeds in bending and stringing the bow and therefore winning Sita’s hand in marriage. Rama and Sita are the ideal husband and wife and are therefore modeled after by all worshipers. The second book is called the Book of Ayodhya; this tells the story of how Queen Kaikeyi is jealous of Rama. She forces King Dasarath to crown her son Bharata king instead of Rama and gets Rama exiled out of the kingdom for 14 years. The Book of the Forest is the third book. In this book Bharata actually goes after his brother Rama to beg him to come back to the kingdom from the jungle. However, Rama refuses and Bharata remains king. Meanwhile, Dasarath dies of sorrow from being separated from his son Rama. In addition, the demoness Surpanakha tries to seduce Rama but is unable to and Lakshmana cuts off her nose. Therefore, her brother Ravana sends the demon Maricha to lure both brothers and succeeds. Hence, Sita is alone and Ravana abducts her. Rama’s friend from the jungle, Jatayu, an acncient vulture king tries to save Sita, but is unable to. Jatayu dies in the hands of Rama while narrating the incident. The fourth book is the kingdom of monkeys; Rama receives help from Sugriva, the king of Kishkindha, to...

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...Ramayana
The Ramayana by R.K. Narayan's is a profound epic story that provides different aspects of Indians culture and which still today influences the politics, religion and art of modern India. He rejuvenated this ancient story and compressed it and set in modern times. Ramayama is a story of adventure and friendship as well as a story of psychological, spiritual meaning and of wisdom. The meanings of The Ramayana are found through the actions and personalities of its principal characters throughout this epic. It is part of the sacred literature for the Hindus because it speaks of the meaning of life and shows how much they take pride in their religion and their lifestyle. This epic novel is known throughout whole country and revised and revived in different editions. It instills the ideology of Hinduism and upholds the principles of dharma. Through the actions and thoughts of the characters, The Ramayana shows how to incorporate dharma into one’s life
The main character, Rama, his mission was to fight evils when Viswamithra takes Rama and his brother Lakshmana from their home. He is taught by Viswamithra who was practically their master on how to use divine weapons of various weapons. Then, Rama falls in love with Sita who is a daughter of King Janaka. She is also known as Janaki, heroine of the this epic story. So, they fall in love because of a pledge is to be married only to somebody who can lift, bend...

...14 Life Lessons from Ramayana
(1) Relationship between Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha
Human life is consumed in chasing materialism (Artha) and sense pleasures (Kama). Ramayana makes it clear that these two pursuits should never be at the cost of Dharma (righteousness). In withholding dharma, both artha and Kama can be and must be sacrificed. The ultimate goal of life is Moksha (liberation) and it can be attained only by relinquishing Artha and Kama and by strictly following a life of Dharma.
(2) The importance of one man being wedded to only one wife
During Ramayana period, polygamy was quite prevalent and it was quite an acceptable social norm for kings to marry many women. Rama's own father Dasaratha was wedded to 3 wives (queens) and he had innumerable concubines at his palace. In a stark contrast to his father, Rama remained wedded and staunchly loyal to his only wife Sita. With this qualification, he held his head high as the greatest king ever ruled in Bharat (India). He set example for future generations of men as to what constitutes a sterling quality for the respectability of a man in society.
(3) Adherence to truth and the need to honor one's word
When Rama was a young boy, the love and affection his father Dasarata had on him was immense. He would never like to be separated from his son. But when he had promised to offer whatever help that the visiting Sage Viswamitra asked for and when the sage requested...

...Lessons of the Indian Epics: Following the Dharma — http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=589
Guiding Questions for Reading the Ramayana
Student Name ___________________________________________________ Date ________________
Below you will find a few questions for each section of the Ramayana. Read each of these questions before you begin to read each section, and then write in an answer as you read.
Section One: The Boyhood of Rama
What does Dasaratha want, and how does he get it? Why does Vishnu decide to give up being a god and be reborn as a human? What kind of a man does Rama become?
Section Two: Life in Ayodhya
Why does Dasaratha banish Rama from the kingdom of Ayodhya? Does Rama wish to go? Who follows Rama into exile? Does Bharata want to be king?
Section Three: The Forest Life
What causes the first battle between Rama and the demons? Why does Ravana decide to pursue Rama and his family in the forest? Should Lakshmana have left Sita alone?
Section Four: Rama’s Stay in Kiskindha
Who is Sugriva? Why does he offer to help Rama?
Section Five: Hanuman’s Prank
What does Sita tell Ravana? What happens to Hanuman?
Section Six: The Great War
What does Vibhishana do? What does Rama promise Vibhishana? How do Rama, Hanuman and the monkey army get across the ocean to Lanka? How does Ravana trick Sita? What does Indrajit do? How are Rama and his army saved?
Section Seven: Period After Coronation...

...The Ramayana: A Story of Abduction
In Morphology of the Folktale, Vladimir Propp proposes thirty-one functions that make up all Russian fairytales. Propp’s Formalist approach to analyzing folktales can be extended beyond stories of the Russian tradition and even beyond fairytales. Proppian analysis of the Hindu epic, The Ramayana, reveals that the story is driven forth by function eight whereby “the villain causes harm or injury to a member of family” (31). Because Rāvana’s abduction of Sita was not one of the eight legal forms of marriage allowed by Ancient Indian Dharmasūtra specifically a Ksatriya marriage, Rama must follow after Rāvana in order to avenge the dishonor done to him by his wife’s captor contributing to the advancement of the plot (Hara 298).
According to Propp, these functions are the “fundamental components of a tale,” “the number of functions known to the fairytale is limited,” and “the sequence of functions is always identical” (Propp 22-23). A story does not need to contain all thirty-one functions, but they must follow a specific order. Propp says, “A tale usually begins with some sort of initial situation. The members of a family are enumerated, or the future hero is simply introduced” (25). The Ramayana as told in The Mahabharata begins with an anecdote of Rāvana’s rise to power and introduces the hero, Rama. The Rāksasa king, Rāvana, is given a boon by the god Brahmā that makes him invincible over all...

... |Ayodhya |
|Weapon |The Bow Kodanda |
|Consort |Sita |
|This box: view • talk • edit |
Rama (IAST: rāma, Devanāgarī: राम, Khmer: ព'''រះ​រាម, Thai: พระราม, Lao: Phra Lam, Tagalog: Rajah Bantugan) or Ramachandra was a legendary king of Ayodhya in ancient India. In Hinduism,[1] he is considered to be an avatar of Vishnu[2] and a lila-avatara as described in the Bhagavata Purana.[3]
Rama is one of the more popular figures and deities in Vaishnavism and Vaishnava religious scriptures in South and Southeast Asia.[4] The majority of details concerning Rama come from the Ramayana, one of the two great epics of India.[5] Born as the eldest son of Kaushalya and Dasharatha, king of Ayodhya, Rama is referred to within Hinduism as Maryada Purushottama,[6] literally the Perfect Man or Lord of Restrictions.[7] Rama is the husband of Sita, who Hindus consider to be an Avatar of Lakshmi and the embodiment of perfect womanhood.[6][8]
Rama's life and journey is one of perfect adherence to dharma despite harsh tests of life and time. For the sake of his father's honour, Rama abandons his claim to Kosala's throne to serve an exile of fourteen years in the forest.[9] His wife, Sita and brother, Lakshmana being unable to live without Rama decide to join him, and all three spend the fourteen years in exile...

...﻿The Ramayana is one of the greatest epics of Hindu Mythology. Written by the Hindu sage Valmiki, the Ramayana is not just a story, but also an educational medium used by the ancient sages to espouse the importance of doing yourdharma (duty) in relationships. The Ramayana depicts characters that we should aspire to be like, such as the ideal father, ideal son, ideal brother, ideal leader, ideal wife, etc.
You can teach values and ethics to your child by way of storytelling. The Ramayana and Mahabharata especially, preach a lot of values that we would want our children to imbibe. Not for nothing, are they the most commonly taught epics since ancient times. Instead of simply commanding your child to respect his elders, you can use examples from his favourite epics to teach him the same.
Learn how you can use one of the greatest gems of Hindu Mythology, namely the Ramayana to teach your children moral values and ethics with the following suggestions.
Sibling Relationships
If your child has any siblings, focus on the love the brothers had for each other. Why did Lakshman, who was used to all the worldly luxuries due to a prince, decide to give all of that up voluntarily to live with his elder brother for 14 years of hardship in a forest? Because he loved his brother and could not bear the thought of having to live 14 years without him.
You can also teach your child the importance of standing up for...

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The Ramayana: Anthropomorphism of the Divine
Perhaps no single work of prose captures the breadth and depth of the meaning of the word dharma, than does the Ramayana. Not a religious book or divinely inspired text such as the Bible or Quran, the Ramayana was originally an epic poem that circulated for centuries by word of mouth before being written down, and thus expanded and contracted over the millennia in written form, dance, songs, movies and television series across a large portion of Asia. As such there is no absolutely correct or true version, but the general story is one of good vs. evil, portraying in dramatic fashion the virtuous and just behavior of the transcendent Rama, inevitably rising triumphantly after a series of initiations, tests, betrayal and deceit. It has given Indians a fantastic example of extraordinary behavior under extreme circumstances, but also provides ideals and wisdom for common daily life. Take this example from the beginning, when the sage Viswamithra convinces Rama’s father, King Dasaratha to allow his son to travel with him on a potentially dangerous journey;
“You cannot count on the physical proximity of someone you love, all the time. A seed that sprouts at the foot of its parent tree remains stunted until it is transplanted…Every human being, when the time comes, has to depart and seek his fulfillment in his own way.” (Narayan 1972, 9)
The above provides but one example...

...Law of Dharma
The topic of this essay is to research the Law of Dharma and show how is plays within The Ramayana. In this the reader will be educated on the history of the Law of Dharma, where it originates, and how it affects the Hindu way of living. The Law of Dharma is a code of life in which we as a society are supposed to live by. Once this is established this knowledge will be compared to the sacred writing of the Hindus which is The Ramayana. The Law of Dharma will show in three mini scenes from the book and shown how it is represented to the real world. Finally, it will finish up with a brief comparison with Christianity and the Law of Dharma.
Dharma is a key and center concept to the Indian philosophy and religion which is known as Hinduism. This religion dates all the way back to 5500 BCE which is found to be in the Neolithic and early Harappan period. The literal meaning by the term Dharma is “that which upholds, supports, or maintains the regularity of the Universe”. The idea of Dharma as a duty of life derives from ancient Indian legal and religious text. The guidelines and rules regarding what was considered appropriate behaviors for human beings accumulated in a body of literature called Dharmaśāstra. This comes from a genre of Sanskrit text that derives from the Indric branch of learning. Which states that dharma comes from a natural order that has been put in place by a divine power. This natural order is instituted so...